morning musings over coffee

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After a busy few months, I was happy to fill my Sunday with things I love. I started the day with a free barre3 class taught by Courtney at Athleta with several of my close lady friends. It was really sweaty, but really fun! Easton Town Center is quiet on Sunday mornings and it was nice to avoid the chaos usually surrounding the area.

Getting our upright core workout on.

After class it was time to hit the ground running. Later that day, I was hosting a Wildtree freezer meal workshop. Backing up a bit: my friend, Annie, is a rep for the company. I’m always weary of direct sales parties but the company’s founder is someone I can relate to and their products are free of preservatives, additives and fillers.

I decided to a host a party where each guest purchases a $79 Wildtree spice and oil kit, then buys and preps their meats and a few veggies in advance of the get together. You come to the workshop and finish preparing your meals (ranging from 10-20 depending on your family size) with the help of Annie and a few glasses of wine.

Three of us decided to head to Costco together to make a bulk meat purchase, which I absolutely recommend. It’s a LOT of meat. We were excited we made it out of there.

$400 in meat later…

We went back to my house to prep before the party. Between the three of us it took 1.5 hours, which included separating the meat, chopping it and putting it into the correct meal bag.

Everyone came over around 6:30 p.m. with their cooler of freezer bags and chopped meats. We caught up for a bit and ate some snacks Annie brought over, as well as a few I prepared, then we got down to business. Since none of us have kids we decided to split the meals in half and prepared 20 of them. During the party we worked to add the additional ingredients to our prepped bags, including the oil and spices. After that, everyone packed their coolers and rushed home to get their creations in their own freezer!

Spices and oil. Picture courtesy of Organize 365.

Overall, the workshop was really helpful. Annie did a great job of answering questions and walking us through the steps. I have 20 “fresh frozen” meals in my freezer and can’t wait to try them out. I’m making a Cajun Shrimp Pasta tonight.

I would love to do this once every few months. It’s nice knowing I just need to cook a side of rice or steam some veggies to go alongside my meal after a long day at work or a weekend away from home. I think most of us even feel comfortable enough to do it on our own without a Wildtree rep.

Also, while it might seem expensive purchasing everything for 20 meals at once, the cost breaks down to approximately $2.50/serving. It’s way less than I would spend at the grocery store on a normal basis, and the time-saving element makes it even more affordable.

One of my New Year’s resolutions was to define this space. I’ve waited for an answer and nothing groundbreaking has happened to report. Instead of waiting around, I’m going to keep on trucking. I love having this space and enjoy writing. For now, this is my place for that.

Today also marks the first day of the barre3 Spring Challenge. I felt that it was the appropriate time to pick back up. We have a few others blogging their way through it (say hi to Robyn!) and it’s going to be part of what keeps me accountable.

The challenge consists of four in-studio classes and two online workouts per week. I scheduled every workout for the next four weeks in addition to teaching classes. I’m hoping to go to bed completely exhausted (and completely fulfilled) every night. I even made sure to pack my bag last night so I could get up bright and early for the 6 a.m. class this morning before heading to work.

The challenge also consists of following a nutrition plan of whole, unprocessed food. Think fiber, fat and protein through lean meat and vegetables. Do NOT think coffee, alcohol or refined sugar. I had leftovers for lunch today from the Love Your Lower Body book. It was Thai Green Curry with Beef and Basmati Rice and the picture does not do it justice! After Sunday’s dinner, Rob let me know it’s now officially a regular in our meal rotation.

Lastly, and I think most importantly, challengers get access to live lectures from barre3 founder Sadie Lincoln and nutritionist Andrea Nakayama. To put this in perspective, ONE session with Andrea otherwise costs more than three times the entire challenge kit. I’d say I’m getting my money back ten-fold!

The thing I love about barre3 is that they encourage you to “make it your own.” This challenge is going to push me, but I also know I won’t fail if I have a glass of wine for Rob’s birthday. The key is going in with a plan. By planning “cheats,” you’re in control. I don’t feel bad and understand it’s something special, not an every day occurrence. My hope is after the challenge, my eating stays this way.

My enemy is going to be my sweet tooth. But I’ve planned for that as well: I have a refrigerator full of Raw Carrot Cake Energy Bites and Dark Chocolate “Donut” Holes. These barre3 recipes usually give me just enough of that sweetness to kick my cravings to the curb.

Day one is almost complete with no major slip-ups. I’ll say as a disclaimer that I did have one cup of coffee this morning. I plan to detox slowly off the coffee. I’ll let you know how my green tea morning goes tomorrow morning! (My guess? It definitely won’t be as good.)

It’s not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you’ve lived.
-Helen Walton

Are you busy gathering or scattering? And what exactly are you scattering?

While I believe self-improvement is important, there’s a way to positively impact your community while doing so. By community, I mean both the physical place you live, and the people you come across every day.

One of my goals this year is to intentionally think about how my reactions to the events going on around me are affecting others. Am I wasting my energy by spreading negativity, or am I creating something meaningful? What am I bringing into the lives of those around me?

By “scattering” a positive outlook, I hope to be an uplifting force for those I come across, restoring their energy instead draining it.

Last night, at approximately 11:30 p.m., my team, Big Thuglies, was crowned Fantasy Football champions.

Don’t let my husband’s Facebook status fool you. I was an avid follower and supporter of my team the entire season. During the past three years of fantasy football play, my team was awful. It all changed this season.

Because of this, I decided it was only right to pen an open letter to the ladies of league Show Me Your TDs and thank those who got me where I am today.

Dear ladies,

I dedicate this season to myself.. for overcoming years of oppression and horrible players, climbing through the trenches of NFL games from the bottom of the barrel, and growing into who I am today: the 2013 champion.

First, I’ll start off by saying that if I ever find the person who gave Wes Welker two concussions, causing him to miss my playoff games, I will be sure they are also concussed for at least five weeks. #findweswelkersconcusser #hithiminthehead

Second, I owe each and every one of your teams (except for Screaming Scorgasms, the only team who managed to beat me every time we played, which was once) a special thank you. Somehow, all of the players on your team WANTED me to win, as they all played well below par during our match-ups. You can’t be mad at them. #curseofthebigthuglies

Next, thank you to Rob for telling me to pick running backs and wide receivers first. This helped tremendously, as I found out in past seasons it’s not very helpful to have the #1 defense or #1 kicker.

But mostly, thank you to Rob for not explaining that you (1) shouldn’t pick two main wide receivers on the same team and (2) shouldn’t pick players with the same bye week. By not giving me this advice, I drafted Demaryius Thomas AND Wes Welker, in addition to the other 8 players who had a bye week 9. #gowithyourgut

Fourth, as a former flutist, I’d like to give a special shoutout to the arts. My team had considerable musical talents this year. Naya Rivera’s brother, Mychal, a rookie TE, stepped it up to score at least 3 points per game. I bet he has a good singing voice. Also, Keenan Allen told the press this week he almost quit earlier this season to start a musical career because he wasn’t getting enough playing time. #wellrounded #encourageschoolstokeepmusicprograms

Fifth, while some of you may think I’m mad at Frank Gore for only scoring 1 point this week, I truly commend him not for his ability as a running back, but for his high standards. When I saw him demanding a winter coat be placed around him in a team huddle, while the others froze their asses off, I thought, “Now that is a guy I can get behind.” #princessfrank

Sixth, while Matt Stafford provided my team a lot of support in the beginning, he has fallen into a horrible, horrible place and my kicker scored more points than him this week to help secure the win. He was no help and I would like to NOT thank him. His girlfriend will probably be mad at me. #twitterwars

Seventh, it is with great sadness I know at least one of my players will be getting in trouble with the law in 2014, following the likes of Titus Young and Aaron Hernandez. Whoever it is, may they have had a good enough season to afford a good attorney. #goodhelpaintcheap #sorryaaron

Finally, it was a pleasure playing with all of you ladies and I’m looking forward to next year already. May the Fantasy Football lords grant you the same luck next year that I had this year. Just kidding.. I hope they grant it to me again.

Let me backtrack. It’s been a month (!) since I started the barre3 Fall Challenge. I started strong but hit a wall when I was knocked out by a virus, leaving me sore, weak and voiceless. I couldn’t teach, let alone take, a barre3 class for 1.5 weeks mid-challenge. Needless to say I was majorly bummed. I’ve been slowly easing my way back into workouts since then.

So much for a successful challenge, right?

For the most part I was able to stick with the nutrition component so maybe I’m not giving myself enough credit. It worked out well that there are so many barre3 soup recipes to choose from! I also stopped eating out for lunch and my dinner recipes made great lunch leftovers. My favorites? The Red Bean Quinoa Chili, Pork Lettuce Wraps and Warm Kale Salad. If you don’t have the barre3 app or an online subscription, you should immediately do that. Those recipes alone make it worth it!

My new goal will be to start working out regularly again, teaching three times/week and heading into the studio for my own classes four times/week. Wish me luck as I finish off November with a renewed energy (and immune system.)

It’s that time again! barre3 is holding a Fall Challenge from Oct. 14 – Nov. 10, with aspects similar to their other challenges, 28 to Great and 7 Day Body Blast. This particular challenge focuses on attending class five times per week and eating whole foods.

Those joining in receive a meal plan. The recipes are delicious and include foods I’ve never really eaten before, including beets and tahini. My weekdays tend to fill-up quickly so I did a lot of food prep on Sunday night, which included chopping all of my vegetables so I could easily cook with them during the week. I’ve also made the following evening’s dinner the night before.

I’ve had a lot of fun (maybe too much) with my meals so far:

Red bean quinoa chili. Rob-approved!

Cooking with beets for the first time ever!

Roasted chickpeas with cumin and sea salt.

Chopping station.

Ground turkey and kale quinoa with beets and sweet potato, complete again with Rob’s seal-of-approval.

As with the other challenges, I plan to make this my own. I’ll still be drinking my coffee and having the occasional glass of wine/beer over the weekend. However, I know that by committing myself to the challenge, including the nutrition philosophy most days and five workouts per week, I’ll be better off than I would otherwise! I’ll be more mindful in stopping at one glass, ordering healthier when I’m out and scheduling classes in advance.

This challenge couldn’t have come at a better time for me. I’ve fallen off the whole food train a bit over the past few months and hope to jump right back on it! I’ll keep you updated on my journey throughout the next month.